These individual perspectives formed part of a much wider conversation about the changing relationship between people, work and the physical workplace.
As the Way We Work research developed, more than 1,000 participants from over 300 businesses contributed their experiences. The resulting research considered not simply where people wanted to work, but the social, psychological and physical factors influencing their relationship with work and the workplace.
One of the clearest findings was that no single working model suited everyone. People valued flexibility and the ability to balance work with life outside it, but the research also highlighted aspects of working life that can be difficult to recreate remotely.
Face-to-face time with colleagues, informal conversations, feeling connected to an organisation and having people nearby for support all featured within the findings. Preferences also varied depending on where respondents expected to work, reinforcing the importance of providing choice rather than designing workplaces around one prescribed way of working.
For employers, this presented a different workplace challenge. The question was becoming less about how many desks an office could accommodate and more about the experiences and activities the physical workplace needed to support.
That shift continues to influence workplace design, with greater emphasis placed on collaboration areas, quiet spaces, social settings and flexible environments that allow people to choose where they can work most effectively.
The workplace has continued to evolve since this research was undertaken, but the importance of designing around people remains. As experienced commercial interior designers in Cambridge, COEL works with organisations to understand how their teams operate, the activities their workplace needs to support and the opportunities to create a better employee experience.
Through thoughtful office interior design, we create flexible environments that provide space for collaboration, concentration, connection and social interaction, helping businesses make their workplace somewhere people actively choose to be.
